


Madness

by Paradoxical_Pacifism



Category: Warhammer Fantasy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lizardmen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22258939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paradoxical_Pacifism/pseuds/Paradoxical_Pacifism
Summary: A pair of skinks try to reason with a veteran of a brutal Lizardmen civil-war.
Kudos: 2





	Madness

**Author's Note:**

> From Lustria Online's 2019 September-November short story contest, which had the theme: "Alternate Settings."

The bodies of lizardmen were sprawled out amongst ferns and undergrowth. They laid with eyes staring and mouths agape as blood poured from their wounds.

  
There were other lizards who stood above the bodies. They either berated their dead kin, or sought refuge somewhere else to heal. Amidst the living, were skinks looting from the bodies, sauri roaring towards the heavens, and kroxigors hefting corpses into their jaws.

  
It was a decisive victory for a minor force of Tlaxtlan over an Xlanhuapec reconnaissance group. A clash that mirrored the ones of long ago, and will see itself repeat on end in the future, spilling reptilian blood relentlessly. The lizards’ hatred for another scorched like a fire throughout their past.

  
Tired, the Tlaxtlan warriors looted whatever they could, as the stench of the dead settled in. One of them was a skink skirmisher, Koriki. He searched for anything of use until he spotted a lone saurus who stood erect, peering out onto the skies above. The muscled warrior loomed over a few dead sauri with scars running across its scales.

  
Koriki struck a conversation with his buddy who was alongside him, pointing with his claws.

  
“Who in Chotec’s name is that?”

  
His buddy, Nakaux, followed where the claws pointed with his eyes, spotting the lone saurus.

  
“That’s Chaska. He’s been doing that ever since we won.”

  
“You know him? Bit of an awkward one. Sauri usually don’t stare like that as if they’re deeply in thought.”

  
“Maybe, maybe,” Nakaux said as he curiously looked on. “It is certainly the first time I’ve seen him stare in such a way. Makes me wonder what he’s thinking about.”

  
Koriki leaned in closer, smiling with glee widely. “Let’s ask him then!”

  
“Ehh…” Nakaux muttered whilst trying to push away the excited skink.

  
Such brash rudeness didn’t register so well in Nakaux’s mind. He had always appreciated the wisdom quietness can often give. His curiosity, however, peaked to a near unbearable level.

  
“I suppose it’ll be fine. Chaska is _slightly_ more talkative than you might expect.”

  
Koriki’s smile brimmed even wider as he grabbed Nakaux along with him.

  
The intrigued skinks went on over to Chaska. The lone warrior still gazed towards the skies - his club dripping with blood as it quivered.

  
“Chaska. Koriki here. Proud, stealthy slayer of the Xlanhuapec scum!”

  
“Madness.”

  
Koriki’s head shook, confused with the reply. Nakaux even more so as he stepped forward.

  
“I think Koriki meant ‘Why are you standing here by your lonesome self?’”

  
“Madness.”

  
The two skinks turned towards each other, blinking with bemusement.

  
“Madness? Are we mad? Are you mad? Are all lizards mad?!” Koriki enthusiastically questioned.

  
The lone saurus gazed towards the skies - his club quivering on.

  
“Madness.”

  
Nakaux pondered on what Chaska meant by his repetitive utterances of ‘madness’. Was the saurus warrior simply mad? Or was it something else? He thought back to when Chaska reminisced of times most lizards have long forgotten. Times when lizards from both Tlaxtlan and Xlanhuapec traded in peace before war engulfed all of Lustria.

  
Such recollections caused Nakaux’s eyes to drift towards the bodies lying by Chaska’s feet…

  
“You feel sorrow for those you’ve killed, huh? Those dead sauri.”

  
“Madness.”

  
Nakaux shook from the answer. He continued staring towards the dead sauri until scenes of Chaska’s spawn brethren flashed before him. To the lone saurus, these spawn mates of his were united like branches of a tree. They were everything, for the gazing saurus never learnt anything else. So did the branches start to fall when Chaska and his cohort of brethren were ambushed by salamanders and skinks.

  
The time when Chaska told all of this vividly played out in Nakaux’s mind. He soon began trembling and baring his teeth when a realization came to him.

  
“Is this all about your spawn brethren? They’re all dead, Chaska! Countless lizards have already lost their lives, and many others will follow suit, so whimpering about won’t change anything!”

  
Chaska gazed onto the abyss that was the skies - his club trembling with a quiver.

  
“Madness.”

  
That single, dreaded response made Nakaux’s blood seethe; his frustration boiling. The three lizards stood there as trees swayed side to side; the wind surfing about them as tails thrashed.

  
Koriki looked on in bewilderment, trying to process why Nakaux was yelling, and why Chaska kept on repeating the same word monotonously. He also pondered on why Chaska’s club kept on quivering.

  
The quivering itself captivated his attention. Upon focusing on it, a new sense of understanding suddenly flushed throughout him. What he had seen as bizarre, suddenly became relatable…

  
And so, Koriki enthusiastically ran towards the lone saurus, hugging one of his arms. He embraced with all his might, for he finally understood.

  
“Are you afraid? Are you afraid of what’s to come, Chaska?”

  
Chaska’s quivering halted. His gaze turned away from the skies, and locked onto the skink hugging him. Eyes of the lone saurus that had seen centuries of blood splattering, centuries of lizards dying, and centuries of suffering pass by, stared towards pupils that haven't even experienced a year’s worth of time. Having seen so much, it was near _impossible_ for him to know what was to come.

  
Chaska raised his head and drew breath. He returned his gaze towards the skies once more.

  
“Madness…”


End file.
